History Main / FoodBasedSuperpowers

Case in point: when someone says the word "superpower", [[StockSuperpowers what comes to mind first?]] If you're like most people, your answer will be something along the lines of "super strength", "super speed", "the ability to fly", "ESP", and so on. There's a reason these powers are perennial in fiction: they're very powerful, versatile attributes that are useful in any number of situations.

* It '''must not''' be any old StockSuperpower bestowed by a PowerUpFood, but an actual food-themed superpower inherent to an individual character. [[note]]PowerUpFood, in other words, [[PowerSource grants temporary power to anyone who eats it]], whereas Food-Based Superpowers are character-specific.[[/note]]

* In ''Anime/DragonBallZ,'' Maijin Buu has the ability to turn just about anything (including people) into junk food and subsequently chow down on it.

** Outside of Big Mom Pirates, there's Wapol of Drum Island, who combines it with ExtremeOmnivore: he can shapeshift parts of his body into anything that he has eaten, such as turning his arms into functional {{Arm Cannon}}s after eating a few cannons. In his side story, he can use his power to produce toys by eating some scrap, which he then sells to children.

* Something of a running theme for the Big Mom Pirates of ''Anime/OnePiece'' who tend to have cooking or (more approriately) food-based powers. Some examples are:

* A gag in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' has Stewie [[BotchedSuicide botching a suicide]] by toaster in the bathtub and becoming "Toaster Man" instead. He's shown conjuring perfectly toasted bread.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Wordgirl}}'': The Butcher is capable of creating and firing meat out of thin air using his hands.

* ''VideoGame/{{MUGEN}}'': The adaptation of [[UsefulNotes/McDonalds Ronald McDonald]] by Japanese creator Kishio (called as [[DubNameChange Donald instead Ronald in Japan]]) has various attacks that precisely involved [=McDonalds=] food as cheeseburgers as projectiles, hitting with giant french fries and even getting an apple from Happy Meal as an explosive. Not to mention he was modeled after [[Characters/JoJosBizarreAdventureDIO Dio Brando]], which included his own version of his FinishingMove, but with a giant hamburger falling from the sky instead of the steamroller.

* In ''Manga/PixiePop'', Mayu accidentally drinks a magical drink and gains the ability to transform every time she drinks something (with the exception of water).

* It '''must not''' be any old StockSuperpower|s bestowed by a PowerUpFood, but an actual food-themed superpower inherent to an individual character. [[note]]PowerUpFood, in other words, [[PowerSource grants temporary power to anyone who eats it]], whereas Food-Based Superpowers are character-specific.[[/note]]

* It '''must not''' be any old StockSuperpower bestowed by a PowerUpFood, but an actual food-themed superpower inherent to an individual character. [[note]]PowerUpFood, in other words, [[PowerSource grants temporary power to anyone who eats it]], whereas Food-Based Superpowers are character-specific.[[/note]]

* It '''must not''' be any old StockSuperpower bestowed by a PowerUpFood, but an actual food-themed superpower inherent to an individual character. [note]PowerUpFood, in other words, [[PowerSource grants temporary power to anyone who eats it]], whereas Food-Based Superpowers are character-specific.[/note]

* To differentiate cases of "someone getting powers from eating something" from PowerupFood, the former is an ability inherent in the character, while the latter is something that can potentially grant power to anyone that eats it - basically a PowerSource.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': In "[[Recap/TheFairlyOddParentsS2E15MightyMomAndDynoDad Mighty Mom and Dyno Dad]]", Timmy wishes for his parents to become superheroes. One of Dyno Dad's powers is "meat vision", which allows him to produce various meat products via EyeBeams.

* It '''must''' be innate to the character, not something bestowed as-needed by a magical item or consumable.

* Food with an innate ability to grant someone powers is PowerUpFood. The ability to ''create'' PowerUpFood can be a Food-Based Superpower, but the ''powers gained by eating it'' are not. (See also CerealInducedSuperpowers and MutagenicFood).

Case in point: when someone says the word "superpower," what comes to mind first? If you're like most people, your answer will be something along the lines of "super strength," "super speed," "the ability to fly," "ESP," and so on. There's a reason these powers are perennial in fiction: they're very powerful, versatile attributes that are useful in any number of situations.

Some characters, however, have much more...''specific'' superpowers. One can transform inanimate objects into gourmet pastries. Another can make cheeseburgers fly around the room...but ''only'' cheeseburgers. Yet another can eat one bite of baked potato, and instantly obtain all the potato's memories, from the plant's exact location right down to the exact people who ''dug up'' and ''cooked'' the potato. These characters have what are known as ''Food-Based Superpowers''.

* The '90s Japanese Pepsi mascot Advertising/{{Pepsiman}} would race up to thirsty or upset people, thrust out his open palm, and suddenly everyone would have a can of Pepsi in hand. It's not clear (or terribly important) ''how'' Pepsiman produced free soda for random people, but [[MST3KMantra it might be best not to think about that too deeply]].

* Combined with ExtremeOmnivore in ''Manga/EatMan'', where protagonist Bolt Crank has the power to eat anything made of metal, and then produce the fully functioning original item at will. Naturally, this usually translates to a hero who can pull out massive firepower when he needs it most (though, mercifully, he pulls it from his arm rather than his ass).
* Crossing this with a MonsSeries gives us ''Anime/FightingFoodons'', where in the fighting monsters are actually food recipes come to life. A talented chef can make better Foodons, and even empower them using power toppings. The highest level of skill is actually termed Dish Wizard.

* Marvel's ''Series/{{Alf}}'' comic book (released under the Star Comics label) once parodied the ''ComicBook/XMen'' and two of the characters were example of this. Magneto became Magmeato who could attract and levitate meat while Hagen-Dazzler (based on Dazzler) could create massive blocks of ice cream. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, when Hagen-Dazzler encases Magmeato in a giant block of Neapolitan, he uses his powers to instantly free himself.]]

* A comic book called ''[[https://www.comixology.com/Power-Lunch/comics-series/7539 Power Lunch]]'' deals with a kid named Joey who can take on different powers if he eats anything with a hue on it. For example, if he eats spaghetti he gains rubber powers, eating a pepperoni pizza allows him fire powers or eating cotton candy can make him go invisible. Due to all these various effects, his mother will only allow him to eat food with white hues (like an egg, milk or banana) since it's the only thing that won't trigger any powers. The comic depicts the shenanigans he gets into when she isn't looking or at school.

[[folder:Films - Live Action]]
* ''The Adventures of Food Boy'' is about a teen who can generate food from his hands.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'': The Law of the Great Maw allows the Butcher magic users of the [[OurOgresAreHungrier Ogre Kingdoms]] to caster different spells depending on what they eat. Eating the heart of a powerful beast, for example, allows them to strengthen their allies, while eating the entrails of a Troll allows them to give a nearby unit a HealingFactor.
* The ''TabletopGame/BigEyesSmallMouth'' supplement ''Uresia: Grave of Heaven'' includes the "God of Cookery" Attribute, enabling characters to do things such as preparing an entire meal in a single round, serving said meal with perfect poise while whitewater rafting, or reverse-engineering the recipe of a dish from a single taste.

* In general all the characters in ''VideoGame/ClayFighter'' series were humans or animals that mutated from a clay meteor, but in some cases, the food ''became'' animated and so became fighters. This is the case of Taffy (a literal Candyman) and Nanaman (a living banana), both are fighters that use their own edible elements as weapons: Taffy uses gumballs as projectiles and stretch his body to attack at distance, and Nanaman throws banana slices as projectiles as well his body slides to reach the opponents.
* The VideoGame/{{MUGEN}} adaptation of [[UsefulNotes/McDonalds Ronald McDonald]] by Japanese creator Kishio (called as [[DubNameChange Donald instead Ronald in Japan]]) has various attacks that precisely involved [=McDonalds=] food as cheeseburgers as projectiles, hitting with giant french fries and even getting an apple from Happy Meal as an explosive. Not to mention he was modeled after [[Characters/JoJosBizarreAdventureDIO Dio Brando]], which included his own version of his FinishingMove, but with a giant hamburger falling from the sky instead of the steamroller.

* ''VideoGame/SouthParkTheFracturedButWhole'': Captain Diabetes' LimitBreak "High Fructose Death Wave" involves him ingesting large amounts of sugar to HulkOut and cause massive damage to enemies.
** This gets carried over to ''VideoGame/SouthParkPhoneDestroyer'' where his charged ability has him do this to double his health and attack power for five seconds.

* Princess Bubblegum from ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' is a "Candy Elemental" and has the power to generate and fire jawbreakers as weapons. She just doesn't use the power because she disdains magic for science.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': In "Mighty Mom and Dyno Dad", Timmy wishes for his parents to become superheroes. One of Dyno Dad's powers is "meat vision", which allows him to produce various meat products via EyeBeams.
* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueAction'': In "Captain Bamboozle", Mr. Mxyzptlk gives Uncle Dudley the power to summon food from the sky alongside other powers for the secret motive of using him to cause mischief and annoy the other heroes.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'': The aptly named "Power Lunch'' episode had the Gangrene Gang inadvertently gain superpowers when the girls zap them with heat vision after they had raided a convenience store. The effect giving them the properties of what they ate. Ace gets ice due to eating ice cream, Snake stretching power as he was eating taffy, Arturo super speed due to drinking coffee, Grubber bleching power from drinking soda and Billy a rock due to eating rock candy. However it only last until the group get a collective stomachache and have to use the toilet. Since they -ahem- "emptied" the contents of their stomachs, they likewise lose the powers.
* Invoked and subverted in the first episode of ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse''. Steven's powers first appear when he sings about his favorite ice cream, Cookie Cat, and initially believes his powers come from the ice cream itself. His powers are actually emotion-based and appeared because he was very emotionally attached to said ice cream.
* In a ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' episode, Robin gains avocado superpowers, such as the ability to project an avocado shield, after eating an avocado given to him by Beast Boy. The effects wear off after a while, however, and Robin needs to eat another to restore them. Inevitably, the PowerCorrupts Robin and he devises an evil scheme to make avocados the only food in the world. Robin eventually merges with a pile of avocados to become an unstoppable avocado monster only defeated after he is given spicy guacamole, which shrinks him, as it is Robin's [[WeaksauceWeakness weakness.]]

** * Tamaki Amajiki, hero name Suneater, can transform his body based on any food he has recently eaten. He eats beef, he turn his hands into hooves. He eats squid or octopus, he can transform parts of his body into tentacles. His mentor, Fatgum, makes a point of giving him swordfish meat just before they take part in a raid on a gangster's stronghold.

* The ''BigEyesSmallMouth'' supplement ''Uresia: Grave of Heaven'' includes the "God of Cookery" Attribute, enabling characters to do things such as preparing an entire meal in a single round, serving said meal with perfect poise while whitewater rafting, or reverse-engineering the recipe of a dish from a single taste.

* ''Fanfic/DuelingKeyboards'': [[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/216531/9/dueling-keyboards/under-wraps "Under Wraps"]]: Combat confectionery skills allow turning sweets into weapons such as red-hots that physically burn instead of just being spicy, or voice-changing lozenges.

* ''Film/TheAdventuresOfFoodBoy'' starring Creator/LucasGrabeel is about a teen who can generate food from his hands.

* It '''must''' be inherent to the character, not something bestowed by a magical item or consumable.

Supertrope to YouAreWhoYouEat. Compare CannibalismSuperpower.

* ''ComicStrip/{{Popeye}}'': Popeye gains super strength from eating spinach.

* Played with in almost all of the mainline games in the ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'' franchise, where Kirby has the power to eat his enemies and absorb their special abilities. This trait carries over to Kirby's appearances in the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series, although it's downplayed as Kirby more ''tastes'' his opponents than actually ''eats'' them.

** Katakuri, who can generate and control sticky mocchi from his body and even mimic protagonist Luffy's RubberMan powers.

** The prize probably goes to Head Chef Streusal, however, one of Big Mom's first allies. He has the power to turn anything he cuts into food. This is demonstrated when he uses his sword to start slicing up a log, with the slices becoming prepared ham steaks for him to eat. Put to an interesting test when he cuts up the crumbling castle of Whole Cake Island, turning the stone to actual cake and saving his crew from being crushed under the rubble.

* ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'': Donut, can make any pastry size and type he knows, appear in his hands, and it tires him out if he overdoes it. Also, they seem to have a slight effect of helping people out mentally and physically.